Hasta La Gadget!

Folks, the rather dour line drawing that you can see in the image above is the very first glimpse of Google’s wearable computing project as it swings through the FCC’s underground facility. The Google Glass Explorer Edition hardware, promised to arrive this year, is carrying a Broadcom 2.4GHz 802.11 b/g WiFi radio that’s been paired with a Bluetooth 4.0 + LE module. We’ve seen a reference to an “integral vibrating element that provides audio to the user via contact with the user’s head,” which we presume relates to the bone conduction patent we saw earlier this month. The filing also reveals that the testing laboratory involved used the conduction technology to view video with audio. As the commission is now making the paperwork public, it can only mean that it’s judged the unit, with the product code “XEB,” to be safe for human consumption — which means customers 782 and 788 might be expecting something special in the mail very shortly.

Filed under: Wearables, Google

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Source: FCC

It’s been a little over six months since Google announced its Project Glass and even though the company was ready to announce it to the world, it still doesn’t entirely know what features to consider for the device. Taking pictures and having a microphone available is one thing, but how are users going to write long emails or communicate via text when it’s more convenient than chatting by voice? A new Google patent may hint at a feature that could help with that.

Google filed Patent 20130016070 today that shows its Google Glass able to project a laser keyboard from the frames of the glasses. The projection can be displayed on the user’s hand, which they can then use their other hand in order to issue commands to Google Glass. The camera in the glasses can also interpret gestures to allow for inputs to be made by moving your hand.

Patents don’t technically mean a company is ready to implement what it filed for into their products, but it does give us a glimpse into its possible future. In the case of Google Glass, being able to project a laser keyboard when you need one would be a welcomed addition.

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: New Imaging System A Potential Boon For Self-Driving Cars, Logitech UC Keyboard K725-C Announced,

An Apple patent published yesterday by the USPTO and unearthed by Patently Apple is a reminder that Apple was actually working on wearable tech in the form of content-delivery glasses, at least on paper, long before Google debuted Google Glass. Apple originally filed a patent for its own Glass Project back in 2006, and this latest patent sketches out the details for a device that could someday go head-to-head with similar offerings from both Google and Microsoft.

In the new patent, Apple describes a “portable presentation device” which could be any device that a user wears that also provides them with access to visual or audio media content. It’s a fairly broad description, and I think that’s the intent: Apple has always had a habit of patenting ideas first, and worrying about bringing them to market later. That’s why the company is in such a strong position with regards to smartphone patents, despite actually being a relatively late entrant to the market vs. other cell phone makers.

The patent goes on to note that a portable presentation device could take the form of “a set of goggles that fit over the user’s eyes with display and perhaps sound producing capability, a faceplate that covers the front of the user’s face with display and perhaps sound producing capability, or any other headwear that has display and perhaps sound producing capability.” They could also contain sensors to detect a user’s presence, and in one version of the system described, the device is able to tell from how it’s being worn whether the user wants it to be active or not – so that lifting glasses with the tech built-in, for instance, would pause media playback.

So far, it sounds like Apple is essentially describing what could be an iOS-powered version of the virtual big screen home video goggles already available on the market, but the patent also describes ways in which they could activate communicate features, like making a phone call or connecting to a video conference. It also describes potential integration of live media services, streamed from Internet sources, as well as cable or satellite, yet another indication Apple is actively looking into the future of television.

Apple’s vision is still more focused on wearable media delivery, versus the AR-type features that Google is making the central feature of its Project Glass device, which is also where Microsoft seems to be headed according to its own recent patent filing. But all of these massive tech companies are clearly trying to plant their flags for the next stage of mobile tech, which begins to look increasingly like it’ll take the form of something we wear, not something we carry.

Google Glass, the Brin-approved, fashionable (or not) wearable computer still isn’t available to consumers, and it may be another year. If you’re itching to put a tiny screen in front of your retina, you should take a look at Motorola Solutions’ HC1 head-mounted computer. The HC1, which runs Windows CE and is powered by a TI OMAP 3 microprocessor, is practically a bargain at a $4000 asking price.  (more…)

By Ubergizmo. Related articles: Android 4.0 ICS for Motorola Droid Bionic rolling out today, Motorola Droid RAZR HD and RAZR MAXX HD now available for purchase from Verizon,

It looks like Google has considered transferring ideas from Project Glass over to your wrist by patenting a smart watch with a transparent, flip-up touchscreen. If such a device ever came off the USPTO papers, it would present notifications and other info transmitted from your smartphone at a glance, like many, many others now on the market. However, Mountain View’s added a new twist when you’d flip up its bezel — at that point, it’s claimed that the watch could channel a plethora of other Google apps, like Gmail, Goggles, and Maps. Of course, you’d be able to privately view messages inside the bezel, but since the display would also be transparent, you could see through it to landmarks or object around you. According to the patent, you could then be given directions based on GPS coordinates and the buildings “seen” by the watch, while a Goggles-like implementation would be able to identify smaller items in the display. That would let the search giant throw ads or other data about the product your way, giving you the info you need to snap it up — and likely not hurting Google’s bottom line.

Filed under: Wearables, Google

Google patents smart watch with flip-up display that could reveal everyday objects’ secrets originally appeared on Engadget on Tue, 02 Oct 2012 10:16:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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